This is the city: Los Angeles, California. I work here. I'm an ex-mayor. Los Angeles is a magnet for people from all over the world. Some of them run for public office. Inevitably some of them stray from the golden rule and rule for those that have the gold. That's when I go to work. My name is Yorty. I'm a dead pol.

Add City Councilman Greig Smith to the list of scofflaws violating Los Angeles' water conservation restrictions.

In a direct challenge to the Department of Water and Power, Smith announced Wednesday he is violating the twice-weekly watering limitations -- and believes he is saving more water by doing so.

"And my grass is greener than it's ever been, and I bet I'm using less water," Smith said.Smith said he waters his lawn for eight minutes, three times a week.

He proposed that DWP revise its conservation rules, which allow watering for 15-minute periods before 9 a.m. and after 4 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays only.

My first thought upon reading this was "what is former "Senator Jim Alger's" spin on this blatant act of lawbreaking by Councilman Smith?? But upon finding the website for his e-mail chat, errrrrr, radio talk show "Common Sense with Jim Alger", all I found was this. Maybe the "Do It Center" dropped its advertising??

But the bigger issue here is not whether DWP "blue shirts" will descend upon Smith's residence, but can we believe anything that originates as policy from DWP's General Manager H. David Nahai and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa??

Then there are those like myself who support practices that cut back on water waste, but wonder if the focus on the local drought, takes attention away from the man-made drought in the northern reaches of the state?? Can you say Delta Smelt Fish??

OTHER NEWS:

** LA Weekly's Christine Pelisek reports that the Los Angeles County District Attorney Office is mulling over whether to charge former City of LA Building and Safety General Manager Andrew Adelman with sexual assualt.

12 Comments:

Anonymous said:

I guess it is NOT news that Zuma Dogg is actively lobbying for a job with BOTH Paul and Christine.

He criticized others for doing the same. This makes him a hypocrite, whether or not he lands a deal for himself, which I think is unlikely since he might make a deal, but won't get it when the day is done. Just like Nuch screwed Zuma, Paul or Christine will do the same.

What does Dennis Zine thing of this? He was quoted by the Times saying, to justify his water-wasting green lawns and rose gardens in the parched West Valley, and refusal to plant more drought-resistant plants, "as councilman, I have to set a good example."

To answer your question Red Spot... When I broke the law nearly 20 years ago, I paid for it and it was used against me by political opponents... Perhaps Mr. Smith feels he is above the law, or not subject to the same rules they legislate to the people of Los Angeles. City Council has a habit of blatantly ignoring rules and laws whenever they see fit, it only seems appropriate he would do the same in his "private" life. It also doesn't surprise me that the geniuses at CD12 would issue a press release advertising their willful disregard of the law. But if you think this is something, just wait for Mitch Englander to sit in the big chair.